Buskers festival adapts to survive
Christchurch’s annual world buskers festival has transformed into an event fit for a pandemic.
It has become less about the world and is instead focusing on the backyard.
Bread & Circus will run for just over two weeks from January 15 and will feature piano sing-alongs, Kiwi comedy royalty the Topp Twins, 10 buskers performing at three sites across the city, a new show by award-winning magician Jarred Fell and a free opening spectacular on New Regent St.
But organisers have adapted the festival to survive the pandemic. The festival will feature exclusively New Zealand talent due to Covid-19 border restrictions and flexible events that can still be held if pandemic restrictions on crowd sizes are implemented.
The event has jokingly changed its name to the Backyard Buskers Festival for 2021.
Event director Scott Maidment said the programme, released this week, was designed to offer more free events for Christchurch.
‘‘Just because we’ve dropped the world, it doesn’t mean we can’t be world-class,’’ he said.
‘‘It has been a pretty crazy year all around the world. We wanted to try to focus on local artists who haven’t had the usual opportunities for most of the year with the lockdown and things like that.’’
The New Regent St opening event will be performed three times on January 16 and will be a free show in the historic street featuring choirs, opera singers and buskers.
‘‘The street becomes a backdrop to a performance,’’ Maidment said.
‘‘It will be based around the music of one of New Zealand’s most famous bands. I amnot going to say who it is yet. It is music that everybody knows.’’
Evening shows will only be held at the weekends at the Christchurch Casino’s Sixty6 on Peterborough venue.